A crushing sprawl, superior athleticism and efficient standup
spurred Usman to a unanimous decision over Maia in the
UFC Fight Night 129 headliner on Saturday at the Movistar Arena
in Santiago, Chile. Scores were 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 for Usman
(13-1, 8-0 UFC), whose stock continues to soar in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division.

Only the first round was competitive. A replacement for the injured
Santiago
Ponzinibbio, Maia (25-9, 19-9 UFC) spent the last 20 minutes
shooting low-percentage takedowns, eating punches and backpedaling
around the cage. Usman dropped the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
with a straight right in the fourth round, pounced with punches and
exacted further damage on Maia’s face, opening a cut near his left
eye. Though a finish failed to materialize, the outcome was never
in doubt.

Usman, 31, has pieced together a 12-fight winning streak and finds
himself in the thick of the hunt at 170 pounds.

Suarez Choke Taps Grasso

“The Ultimate Fighter 23” winner Tatiana
Suarez remained undefeated, as she submitted Alexa
Grasso with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
women’s strawweight co-main event. Grasso (10-2, 2-2 UFC), who had
never before been finished, conceded defeat 2:44 into Round 1.

Spawned by the
Millennia MMA camp, Suarez has secured three of her first six
wins by submission.

Unbeaten Reyes Vanquishes Cannonier

Dominick
Reyes kept his perfect professional record intact and did so in
spectacular fashion, as he put away former
Alaska Fighting Championship titleholder Jared
Cannonier with punches in the first round of their featured
light heavyweight attraction. Cannonier (10-4, 3-4 UFC) succumbed
to blows 2:55 into Round 1.

Reyes (9-0, 3-0 UFC) was patient and purposeful, chipping away with
inside leg kicks and occasional jabs. During one of their standup
exchanges, he clipped Cannonier with a sweeping left uppercut that
set the 34-year-old on rubbery legs. Reyes followed with a pair of
partially blocked head kicks and pressed the issue before dropping his opponent to all fours with another
left uppercut.

The 28-year-old Reyes now has eight first-round finishes under his
belt.

Windows of opportunity were too few and far between for Rivas (7-2,
2-2 UFC). The Chilean was a step behind Cannetti but nevertheless
bit down on a guillotine choke in the second round and drew blood
with a burst of knees, elbows and uppercuts in the third. It was
not enough to erase Cannetti’s efforts, which included multiple
takedowns, effective ground-and-pound and time-consuming positional
control.

Cannetti has compiled a 6-2 record across his past eight
appearances.

Debuting Lee Stymies Macedo

Former
Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Andrea Lee
breezed through her first test inside the Octagon, as she took a
unanimous decision from Veronica
Macedo in a featured women’s flyweight affair. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Lee (9-2, 1-0
UFC).

Repeated takedowns and superior clinch work buoyed the UFC rookie
and sank Macedo’s chances. Lee had the Venezuelan taekwondo stylist
in danger in all three rounds, nearly finishing Macedo (5-2-1,
0-1-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke in the first and an arm-triangle
choke in the second. “KGB” sealed her counterpart’s fate over the
final five minutes, as she climbed to full mount, transitioned to
the back and scored with slashing elbows.